Early Risers.

[BoD]

A quote from the BBC website

 

An international cat federation has said it's banning all Russian cats from entering its competitions.

In a statement on its website the Fédération Internationale Féline said it was "horrified" by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and had subsequently decided to disallow Russian cats from competing in its competitions, which take place around the world.

 

That’ll teach ‘em.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, monkeysarefun said:

 ...and all that before summer even starts!

The Colorado should be full of snowmelt right now.

 

And there is no longer a fire season* in Southern California (when I lived there it was August and September). Wildfires are now year round.

 

* The joke was that yes, Southern California did have four seasons - flood, mud, fog and fire. Flood and mudslides still happen but are now dramatically intensified by burn scars from the year-round fires - even for the very rich like Montecito in 2018.

[polybear]

6 hours ago, The Lurker said:

But "jeans ironed"? I thought one of the joys of jeans was that was one of the things that didn't need to happen with jeans!

 

Can I help it if I'm a bit of a smooooooth Bear?  Just a trendsetter in the world of fashion I guess....

 

6 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Ironed? que?  Gave that up on retirement!

 

Bear too.  Almost.

 

3 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

So I'm all for sharing man's burden- hell I did missionary work down saarth for twenty years,

 

I wonder what the current position is regarding missionaries now....

 

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

My dog could find water anywhere and felt it was his duty to share it with those walking with him.

 

I'm guessin' you don't have a white carpet and sofa?  Or not any longer.....

 

28 minutes ago, BoD said:

Fortunately for me, my grandfather, who did work underground, told my father that there was no way that he was going to work down the pit so I was never under any pressure to follow the family ‘tradition’. 

 

Apparently my Great Granddad said the same to my Grandad, so he never went down the Pit (Sacriston) but instead came down south and became a Baker instead.

 

In other news.....

Another fine evening at the M.E. Evening Class .  Sadly it seems that the grown-ups have decreed that the Tutor can't play anymore (he has to devote his time to the daytime oiks) so the Technician will baby-sit us instead.  Makes life a bit more awkward for any prospective newbies with little or no clue what they're doing, but at least we're still up and running.  For how long is the worrying question though...

 

And finally.....

Bear's paw slipped and hit the "Bid" button on the 'bay for a second kit-built choo choo.  Oops.  There was almost another one too - but someone else got that.  Still, I got Bear's favourite one, with no other bidders so a good result.  And from the same seller as yesterday, so combined postage is on the cards. 

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, Darlington_Shed said:

My dad's family were from Easington - he started at the pit as a blacksmith/welder, never had to work underground thankfully*. My mother's family came from yon side of Durham at Esh Winning. All the men in her family worked below; killed most of them, too - various lung disorders.

 

* I have, however, been deep in Easington pit - on a school careers visit circa 1970. I immediately resolved to find another career 

I went down Easington in 1973. We visited the 18inch seam.. self moving face ....ie the bacon slicer coal cutter moved through the seam, the dowty hydraulic props followed it and then once the props had gone odd roof falls happened. Scared me but I was already certain I wouldnt be working there. My uncle was in the rescue team at the Easington disaster and never forgot it.

 

Baz

[polybear]

4 minutes ago, BoD said:

A quote from the BBC website

 

An international cat federation has said it's banning all Russian cats from entering its competitions.

In a statement on its website the Fédération Internationale Féline said it was "horrified" by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and had subsequently decided to disallow Russian cats from competing in its competitions, which take place around the world.

 

That’ll teach ‘em.

 

 

I wonder what's happening** to all the Kitties and Doggies in Kyiv etc.?  What's going on makes Firework Night look like a Church Service by comparison....

 

** Actually, I don't want to know 

[monkeysarefun]

13 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Oh dear 

 

Neighbours has been cancelled completely 

 

I haven't watched it since I was at High school but at least it wasnt depressing like Deadenders 

I remember a local comic saying he used to try to  rile up Brit audiences when over there by telling them that  Neighbours was  our version of Eastenders. 

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I wonder what's happening** to all the Kitties and Doggies in Kyiv etc.?  What's going on makes Firework Night look like a Church Service by comparison....

 

** Actually, I don't want to know 

Some have taken their pets with them and some countries are allowing pets in without the pet passports.

[Winslow Boy]

Dear Bear I can officially confirm that following the Pandemic that all missionary work darn sarrth has  been cancelled. I beleive the official phrase was something along the lines of ' might as well give up on them as there going to hell in a hand cart' or words to that effect.

 

So all missionaries have been recalled, apart from the ones that have gone 'native' as we don't want them coming back and contamination the populace with there soft southern ways.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Some have taken their pets with them and some countries are allowing pets in without the pet passports.

Maybe a bird, cat or a small dog. Most have had to abandon their pets.

 

Yesterday I saw an interview with a woman at the border in tears over abandoning her home, cats and dogs while escaping to the west.

 

EDIT:
On a network evening news broadcast this evening I did see a family with what looked like a spaniel, but I see very few dogs in all the footage of Ukrainian evacuees. 

 

With all the privations these evacuees are going through, long train journeys, walking tens of km, etc, and stories of them gradually abandoning possessions as they go, I imagine that accommodating pets on the journey would be very difficult.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The weather has been awful today, wet and grey and miserable. It was never really heavy rain, mainly drizzle, sometimes it was so light you couldn’t see it, but you sure knew about it if you were outside in it. In fact it’s still drizzling now, I can here it dripping on the dining room skylight! 

 

I didn’t do a great deal after completing my 2 shopping trips this morning. Once the shopping had been put away, I got changed into my working clothes as Charlie was coming round this afternoon. I mainly did a bit of tidying up, bin emptying and measuring up for the skirting boards, as the sizes have altered slightly since the walls have been plastered. 

 

Charlie arrived just after 2 o’clock, but he hadn’t brought any model making gear with him, as the kit for his next project hasn’t arrived yet. So, I got changed out of my working clothes, then all 3 of us decamped to the living room and spent a very pleasant afternoon chatting. This made a very pleasant change for Sheila, as she normally doesn’t see much of him when he comes round to do some model making with me. 

[monkeysarefun]

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Announcements we could hear and understand

Thats from 17 years in Orstraylia mate!

Edited March 3, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[NGT6 1315]

3 hours ago, Grizz said:

Ooooo what’s in the box …what’s in the box????? I love that shape box…..I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of them. Trouble is Mrs Grizz has learnt to recognise THAT shaped box….and can do this in her sleep…it would seem! 
 

It is an OBB electric loco but what class is it? 

 

 

 

Here you are.  The resemblance of this livery to camouflage is quite uncanny, isn't it? That being said, given post-WW2 Austria's low profile in military matters, it does strike me as odd that they would advertise for their army like that.

 

And that's me to bed now. Be safe, everyone...

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

Teacup?  TEACUP??  Pah.

Strictly a mug kinda Bear - and always Tea. 

 

 I notice you dont mention you trying to  drink it straight out of the jug but.  

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Snakes in the flood water is just as bad as crocs if not worse.its like weather and wildlife ganging up on you

 

And spiders dont like getting their 8 tiny feet wet either. From last years floods.

 

 

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[monkeysarefun]

War what is it good for? Absolutely nothing 

 

unless you are a shareholder of an Australian energy exporter. (from Sydney Morning Herald)

 

The war in Ukraine has sent Australia’s fossil-fuel export prices surging, as buyers in Europe and Asia scramble to reduce their exposure to Russia and look for alternative coal and gas supplies in the middle of a global energy crunch.

The benchmark price for high-quality coal in Asia surged 42 per cent this week to an unprecedented $US446 ($609) a tonne, while one-off cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) soared more than 40 per cent to a six-month high.

 

 

The rally lifted the share prices of some of Australia’s largest coal miners. Whitehaven and Yancoal finished the day trading nearly 11 per cent higher, while Perth-based oil and gas giant Woodside rose almost 3 per cent.

 

Australia is the world’s largest shipper of LNG, followed closely by Qatar and the United States. While Australian LNG companies lack the capacity to produce more gas to send to Europe, the industry is set to cash in as the tightening global market elevates prices for uncontracted cargoes in Asia.

 

Experts and analysts suggest Australian producers may also stand to benefit longer-term from the invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian energy sector finds it more difficult to finance new projects to meet future demand. Energy giants including BP, Shell and Equinor this week pulled out of major Russian projects, while Italy froze its loan of an estimated $500 million euros ($672 million) for Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which had been due to begin exports from 2023.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

War what is it good for? Absolutely nothing 

 

unless you are a shareholder of an Australian energy exporter.

Unsurprisingly. Good for the Australian economy in the short term.

 

Australia will struggle to replace fossil fuel exports and maintain the current quality of life. It's amazing how much you can monetize compost if you can leave it be for 100M years.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[monkeysarefun]

 

27 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Unsurprisingly. Good for the Australian economy in the short term.

 

Australia will struggle to replace fossil fuel exports and maintain the current quality of life. It's amazing how much you can monetize compost if you can leave it be for 100M years.

 

No worries mate, we've got all that Lithium AND uranium, whatever way the world goes!

 

Some see the writing on the wall. Australian founder of Atlassian software has recently attempted a buy out of AGL energy, hoping that if successful he would transform it from coal powered dependence to alternative energy.

https://www.weeklyblitz.net/tech/atlassian-founder-leads-bid-to-buy-agl-energy/

 

For brief moments lately energy output produced by solar sources has outstripped that produced by coal but we have a long way to go and energy companies love spreading the doom and gloom propaganda about how unreliable alternative energy is.

Edited March 4, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

Except for groceries a week ago, and my daily constitutional, I hadn't ventured out for a week.

 

I decided to get in gear this afternoon, but spent too long here and didn't leave the house until close to 3:50pm, and had to stop for a school bus bringing the middle-schoolers home, sit in the traffic jam for the high schoolers while I watched the clock to get to the local post office "parcels" department (which due to space constraints is separate from the retail post office) before 4:00pm.

 

I made it with seconds to spare and presented the little brown form (left in my mailbox a week ago) to ransom a letter (with a grand total of $0.30 insufficient postage) addressed to me. No luck, they couldn't find it. Then I went to the retail post office (only because I wasn't sure a birthday card destined for the antipodes weighed ≤ 1oz).  Mission accomplished there, only to narrowly avoid a head on collision with a vehicle "steered" by a woman (apparently eating) who turned fully into my turn lane, missing her lane completely.

 

Heading home the back way to avoid traffic I was held up by what might be the world's ugliest railcar (WES) and then someone who materialized in front of me walking a dog. (He had the right of way - I was checking traffic in the other direction when he appeared.)

 

Finally home, the USPS called me to let me know they had found my letter (and three other misfiled letters for neighbours), and would deliver it without insisting on the ransom.

 

Meanwhile the news is reporting weapons being directed at a southeastern Ukrainian nuclear power plant (Zaporizhzhia and reportedly one of the largest in Europe), which is on fire amid urgent calls for a local ceasefire to permit firefighters to extinguish the fire.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

4 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Some see the writing on the wall.

The State of Queensland has a renewable hydrogen investment fund. The intent as I understand it is to repurpose some of the coal infrastructure. 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, can't sleep..

I have various relatives that were miners, mum's dad was a miner, of a long line of miners, but came out and joined the RAF, after which the railways.

My younger sister's late husband was a miner, was mining the cause of his cancer? Probably...

Going back to the 1800s and before Dad's mothers side had a long line of miners, some of whom have never left their pit, having been caught in a disaster..

 

Here in Norfolk large parts of it are flood plains, there are always battles between builders and others over where to build houses. Norfolk did have a very small area of coal mining up at Kelling Heath. But it never became more than small local pits no exports outside the area.

Norfolks main mining was peat, fully commercial up to 1500s when coal started arriving by sea from up north, but for local family use, peat was still cut till WW1. What happened to the peat cuttings?... They're now called the Norfolk Broads...

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.